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The Week Ahead: Jan. 1-Jan. 7

Losing your job is one of the less festive holiday traditions on Broadway this time of year, when ticket sales plummet and producers finally decide to call it quits. Here's a quick roundup of the seasonal face-lift: "LATINOLOGUES," "SWEET CHARITY" and "CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG" closed last week, and audiences looking to see "SEASCAPE" (closes Jan. 8), "FIDDLER ON THE ROOF" (Jan. 8) or "SOUVENIR" (Jan. 8) better act fast. The same goes for fans of JOHN LITHGOW and CHERRY JONES, who leave "DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS" and "DOUBT," respectively, in the next few weeks. The most interesting change might be in the cast of "SPAMALOT," which has recruited the brilliant English classical actor SIMON RUSSELL BEALE to take over for TIM CURRY. Mr. Beale has already demonstrated that he can breathe life into the great monologues of Shakespeare and Chekhov. But can he do a silly walk? "Spamalot" is playing at the Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200.

So you're nursing a hangover and trying to forget those resolutions that are never going to be kept. The last thing you want to do is see "MEASURE FOR MEASURE," Shakespeare's dark comedy that touches on capital punishment, sexual harassment and moral hypocrisy (fun, fun and fun!). But hold on: the New York Times critic Charles Isherwood, who saw the play in Philadelphia, has said that the all-male production, directed by and starring MARK RYLANCE, is genuinely, surprisingly funny. Who knows? It may be just the thing to forget last night. The play closes tonight at St. Ann's Warehouse, 38 Water Street, at Dock Street, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779.

FILM

Dave Kehr

The animation expert Greg Ford has put together a rousing program, CARTOON MUSICALS, that continues through Wednesday at the Walter Reade Theater (www.filmlinc.com). Sunday brings Loony Esoterica and Merrie Marginalia, devoted to shorts with musical themes from the Warner Brothers cartoon studios. The great Carl Stalling was in charge of the musical elements, underlining the work of Bugs Bunny and associates with his highly distinctive musical cues and sly, punning references to pop hits in the Warner catalog. Showing Sunday at 2 p.m., Monday at 1 and 6:45 p.m. and Wednesday at 2:45 p.m., the program includes a typically elegant Friz Freleng study in musical synchronization, "Stage Door Cartoon" (1944), plus work by the directors Frank Tashlin ("Wholly Smoke"), Robert Clampett ("Naughty Neighbors" and "Polar Pals") and Mr. Ford himself ("Blooper Bunny," with Terry Lennon as co-director).

A program of George Pal's Puppetoons (Sunday at 4:15 p.m., Monday at 3:15 and Wednesday at 1 p.m. ) brings together some of the extremely polished stop-motion animation produced by Pal, including "Rhapsody in Wood" (1947), with music by Woody Herman's big band, and "A Date With Duke" (1947), set to an Ellington score. The shorts in Independently Musical (Sunday at 6 p.m. and Tuesday at 9 p.m.) come from outside the studio environment and include George Griffin's free-form illustration of a Charlie Parker solo, "Koko" (1988).

The nonrepresentational work of the German-born Oskar Fischinger has proved to be immensely influential, casting its throbbing, geometric spell on films from Walt Disney's "Fantasia" to Stanley Kubrick's "2001." Optical Etudes (Monday at 5 and 9 p.m.) brings together 20 of Fischinger's own short films. Frequently set to classical music, Fischinger's films of the 30's and 40's invite comparison to the fine art products of their day with titles like "Study No. 7" and "Motion Painting No. 1." Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5600.

Any appearance by DIANE KEATON, Oscar winner and baby-boomer role model, is an event. Of course, Ms. Keaton has done her share of forgettable television movies, but the source material for "SURRENDER DOROTHY" (CBS, tonight at 9), MEG WOLITZER's 1999 novel, is promising. Ms. Keaton plays a grieving mother whose only child, Sara (ALEXA DAVALOS), has been killed in a car accident. She turns to Sara's friends, moving in with them at their summer house and becoming especially close to a young gay playwright (TOM EVERETT SCOTT). The theme - at least in the book - is family and friends' competing claims on the dead.

It's far from a guarantee of success, but the creators of the new NBC series "FOUR KINGS" (which has its premiere Thursday at 8:30 p.m.) are DAVID KOHAN and MAX MUTCHNICK, who gave the world the over-the-top, largely lovable characters of "WILL & GRACE." At this point, however, the only clear similarities between the two shows are that they're both set in New York and have four main characters. Josh Cooke plays Ben, a young man with three close male friends ) and a grandmother who has died and left him her amazing Manhattan apartment. This being television, Ben doesn't move in alone or with his girlfriend (Kiele Sanchez). He invites his three guy pals to share the place. At least they have an excuse for living in an apartment so far beyond their means.

Inexpensive, often mindless reality series continue to infest prime time, but once in a while the premise is intriguing. MTV's "X EFFECT," which has its premiere on Tuesday night at 10, could be interesting. The show reunites former couples, then watches what happens. This is an emotional dynamic that hasn't been used to death in nonfiction television, unless you count GEORGE and ALANA HAMILTON's talk show.

DANCE

Jack Anderson

Dance fans who don't want to brave winter weather can enjoy a fascinating new biography, "MAY O'DONNELL: MODERN DANCE PIONEER," by MARIAN HOROSKO (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, $21). Ms. O'Donnell , who died last year, danced with Martha Graham at various times in the 30's and 40's, attracting attention with her tall, sturdy presence. Her own choreography was equally sturdy. In 1943 she created "Suspension," which some historians consider the first totally abstract modern-dance composition. Ms. O'Donnell was long a resident of the East Village, and Community Board 3 has given its approval to name the block where she lived on East Seventh Street, between Avenues B and C, MAY O'DONNELL WAY.

Fans venturing outdoors will also be rewarded. THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET opens its winter repertory season on Tuesday night with three plotless one-act works of the sort for which the company is famous: two masterpieces by GEORGE BALANCHINE - the elegant "Concerto Barocco" and the effervescent "Symphony in C" - and PETER MARTINS's propulsive "Fearful Symmetries." But the company also dances some multi-act dramatic works, and one of them, Mr. Martins's staging of "Swan Lake," returns to the repertory on Friday night. This version emphasizes the story's melancholy. Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 721-6500, www.nycballet.com.

SARAH EAST JOHNSON creates her own fantastic realm in "(w)HOLE," her new production for her troupe, LAVA. But its fantasies are based on the wonders of nature: "(w)HOLE," an acronym for Whole History of Life on Earth, depicts the saga of evolution with the aid of dance, trapeze work and acrobatics. Through Feb. 19, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m., Flea Theater, 41 White Street, between Broadway and Church Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 352-3101, www.TheaterMania.com.

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Symphony Space is trying to become a hotbed of contemporary classical music. On Thursday night, for example, the YING QUARTET, a dynamic ensemble of young sibling string players, in the midst of its fifth and last season in residence, presents an adventurous program. The concert stands out all the more because the first week of January is typically a slow time in the classical music season.

The quartet will present the New York premiere of TOD MACHOVER's "... but not simpler ...," which alternates movements played traditionally with electronically generated interludes. Though Mr. Machover, a professor of music and media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a sophisticated knowledge of electronic resources, he brings a childlike enthusiasm to his multimedia experiments. The Ying Quartet's eclectic program will include works by ELLIOTT CARTER, the Renaissance master William Byrd, Beethoven, the Beatles and that pioneer of musical invention and experimental instruments, JOHN CAGE. 7:30 p.m., Leonard Nimoy Thalia, 2537 Broadway, at 95th Street, (212) 864-5400.

If this concert sounds too out there, , you can always try the Metropolitan Opera's candy-store-colored production of Donizetti's comedy "L'Elisir d'Amore," which opens on Monday night. The delightful story concerns a painfully shy Tuscan village bumpkin who overcomes his romantic timidity thanks to a roving quack, who sells him a miracle love potion (actually just a bottle of wine). The cast stars the ardent tenor RAMÃN VARGAS and the golden-voiced soprano RUTH ANN SWENSON. The show may not be cutting edge, but it should be enjoyable. Monday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 p.m., (212) 362-6000.

POP/JAZZ

Kelefa Sanneh

What's the difference between a bunch of stylish arrivistes and a bunch of well-loved veterans? In the case of the New York retro-rock band THE STROKES, the difference is about four years. In 2001, the band released "Is This It" (RCA), a debut album that helped popularize a musical movement that's now easy to take for granted. It's no longer a surprise to find skinny pants and jagged guitar lines on MTV. And though the Strokes seemed very - to some listeners, suspiciously - mediagenic when they arrived, a newer generation of bands has changed that perception, too; for any young, stylish band looking to conquer MTV, THE KILLERS, not the Strokes, are the model of success.

The second Strokes album, "Room on Fire" (RCA), was in some ways even leaner than the first. While other bands might have chased a fuzzy ideal of creative freedom, the Strokes sounded obsessed with discipline. It seemed as if they could go on forever, releasing short, tight albums full of short, tight songs.

On Tuesday, fans will get a chance to find out whether this is, in fact, the plan. In probably the slowest week of the musical year, the Strokes will release "First Impressions of Earth" (RCA), which should help determine their place in a rock 'n' roll era that they helped create. The first single, "Juicebox," was accompanied by a video that portrayed a sleazily satirical version of the music industry (there was an already-infamous scene with a small old woman and bigger, younger dog) that was almost guaranteed to be shunned by MTV (and, not coincidentally, celebrated on blogs); there are plenty of worse ways to let people know you have a new album.

ART/ARCHITECTURE

Randy Kennedy

The first week of January is a slow one in the art world, but there are some off-the-beaten-track shows to be found. One is an exhibition of paintings at the NEW YORK TRANSIT MUSEUM. After the transit strike, it might be a good way to remind yourself of the redeeming qualities of the subway, including some qualities you'd never considered. The show features 30 pastel and charcoal drawings, oil paintings and linoleum block prints by LAURA CANTOR, who has worked for New York City Transit for 23 years as a subway car inspector. Her work shows exactly what she sees on the job, unadorned but transformed with color. In one pastel, she renders the magnetic latch on an R62 subway car, the kind of car still in use on the Lexington and other lines. The work makes you wonder what would have happened if Thomas Hart Benton had spent some time under a subway train. Corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 694-1600, through April 9.

A completely different kind of unusual can be found at the SEAN KELLY GALLERY. MARINA ABRAMOVIC, the radical performance artist who recently spent seven grueling nights onstage in the rotunda of the Guggenheim, often doing violence to herself, has created an elaborate video work that examines ancient connections between sexuality and folklore. Titled "BALKAN EROTIC EPIC," the videos are framed by Ms. Abramovic, in a professorial role, explaining some of the more unexpected ways in which sexuality and the body were employed in Balkan pagan traditions and in other ancient cultures. (If it rained too much in a village, for example, women would run into the fields and lift their skirts to scare the gods and end the rain.) In adjoining videos, performers hired by the artist enact such rituals, sometimes faithfully and sometimes in ways that reimagine the folklore. 528 West 29th Street, Chelsea, (212) 239-1181, through Jan. 21.

More comprehensive listings of cultural events can be found each Friday in the Weekend section.